W Cape battling to control spike in Covid infections

THE Western Cape continues to see an increase in Covid-19 infections, hospitalisations and deaths – with an average of 1039 new Covid-19 diagnoses each day.

Hospital admissions are increasing, with an average of 86 new admissions a day, along with around 15 deaths each day, according to health officials at the latest Covid-19 briefing yesterday.

Head of Health in the province Dr Keith Cloete said: “Case numbers are increasing rapidly now. The proportion of positive cases has also increased markedly, to an average of 20%. Overall, there is a 51% weekon-week increase in cases in the metro. All the sub-districts are seeing a marked increase in cases. Most cases diagnosed are in the private sector, but the number of public sector cases is also increasing. We continue to see small numbers in Khayelitsha, although the curve is trending upward. There are currently 12695 active infectious cases. This is 4 427 more active cases (53%) in the last week alone.”

In comparison, the third wave was set to soon exceed the peak of the first wave, tracking along a similar slope as the second wave, Cloete said.

There were also currently 1180 patients admitted with Covid-19 – an increase of 68% since mid-May.

Premier Alan Winde called on residents to be on high alert and flatten the curve.

“I call on residents to once again flatten the curve and save lives. We are now well and truly in the third wave, and residents must be on high alert, practising the lifesaving behaviours that we have learnt over the past year,” he said.

To date, a total of 294 840 vaccines have been received by the province, of which 278 332 have already been administered as at June 23. Winde added that the national Department of Health confirmed the province would receive 191 880 doses of Pfizer vaccines this week.

“We have also, so far, received 26 400 doses of Johnson & Johnson (J&J) for teachers, (the roll out of) which began on Wednesday. The weekly supply pipeline of J&J is also expected to be confirmed over the coming week,” added Winde.